​​Manchester United are stepping up their search for a suitable candidate to become the club's new sporting director, and are reportedly eyeing up former goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar to fill the role.

It proved to be a difficult summer in terms of the Red Devil's recruitment attempts, as they were only able to get three deals over the line. Fred, Diogo Dalot and Lee Grant all made the move to Old Trafford, but that was as far as it went for Jose Mourinho's men.

With tensions between Mourinho and the club's board at an all time high, it now seems as though the board are looking to bring in a sporting director to help oversee any future transactions.

According to the Indepen​dent, United are considering legendary goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar as a potential candidate for the role, given the fact that he previously spent six years at the club and that he has recent experience operating behind the scenes at Ajax as their chief executive officer.

The Dutchman is not the only possible candidate and the report suggests that United have identified Monchi and Fabio Paratici of Roma and ​Juventus respectively as their 'most desired options' going forward. However, prising either away from their current clubs could prove to be easier said than done.

United will conduct an extensive number of interviews to prospective candidates, making sure that their selection process is as detailed as possible. The deep search will cover a wide variety of individuals from all over Europe.

The pursuit comes despite Mourinho's previous comments which suggested that he would not like to operate under the watching eyes of a sporting director. However, Manchester United now need to learn their lesson from the previous transfer window, and introducing a more long-term strategy may be pivotal if they are to do so.